


The Reunion

by lovingbookssince1234



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Multi, Post-Book 3: Heir of Fire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-03
Updated: 2015-06-03
Packaged: 2018-04-02 16:06:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4066174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovingbookssince1234/pseuds/lovingbookssince1234
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set post Heir of Fire. Aedion, Chaol, Dorian and Ren come across Celaena in the woods but she isn't alone and for the first time, they're scared of what they see.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Reunion

Dorian POV  
Crouched by the stream I stared at my reflection, the images flashing through my mind at top speed. Sorscha, the collar and then the all consuming darkness. A hand on my shoulder has me spinning around, ready to attack but I relax as I see Chaol.  
‘You okay?’ I run a hand down my face and nod.  
‘Yes.’ He nods but I can see the doubt. Aedion and Ren make their way over. After Chaol and Ren successfully saved Aedion and I, we decided to head out into the woods. There is a price on our heads and we need to contact Celaena, or Aelin or whatever she is calling herself these days. I have no idea how we are going to find her but thats a problem for later. We resume our walk, Chaol and Ren occasionally speaking but the majority of time is spent in silence. I glance at a tree and nearly freeze when I see a pair of intelligent eyes staring back at me but I relax when my brain catches up and I recognise the bird as a hawk. It’s gaze is fixed on me and I frown, it’s head turns to Chaol, Ren and finally Aedion before it looks back at me. There is something bugging me about this hawk and I’m about to call Chaol when it takes flight, not looking back once, I watch his silvery wings disappear into the forest ahead. Shaking it off, we continue the walk.

An hour later and we can hear the sound of a river nearby. We are about to change direction slightly and head towards it when I hear muffled sounds coming from ahead. I gesture to the others but they have already noticed it. We look at each other in confusion and listen harder. I start to hear the tell-tale signs of a fight. I reach down, resting my hand on my sword. The others do the same, not actually drawing weapons in case we are over reacting. We head slowly towards the sound and when we eventually stumble across a clearing I feel my jaw drop. I feel inhales of breath beside me but my gaze is fixed on the two people. A man and a woman. More precisely, a man and Celaena.

 

……………..  
It only takes a second for me to register that Celaena is right in front of me before I suddenly register the situation and yet some small part of me tells me to not interfere and to watch. I grab Aedion to stop him from moving and he frowns but I just gesture to watch. They are fighting in hand to hand combat. Striking and spinning away from each other, almost too fast for me too see. There is a kind of lethal beauty to the way they fight. She has definitely got better, stronger and I know that whatever hope I once had of defeating her in a fight has long since passed. Her hair is shorter but still swinging back and forth as she ducks and jabs with lethal precision. As I watch I begin to realise that this is no real fight. There is no blood and very few punches are actually landing on each other. I belatedly realise they are training, but who is this guy? He has had his back to me for the entire time but now they start to turn and I get a good look at his face. The man is huge, his entire body rippling with muscle. His eyes, cold and calculating don’t miss anything. Chaol moves slightly beside me and a twig snaps. Celaena hesitates but it is enough. The man lands a punch to her stomach that sends her flying backwards, literally through the air. Aedion tenses beside me and Chaol mutters something yet neither of them move. I expect Celaena to land in a heap on the floor but she lands in a crouch, her head down.  
‘Weak princess.’ The man says and I feel my eyebrows raise. He knows who she is?  
‘That all you got?’ He asks tauntingly. Her head is down but her reply rings loudly.  
‘This started as a play fight. I’m not going to fight you.’ He chuckles  
‘Scared?’ Her head snaps up and her eyes glint dangerously.  
‘Coward.’ He says scathingly and then I recoil as Celaena lets out a feral growl, there is a slight light and when I look back my jaw loosens slightly. She is stood upright, her eyes glinting while her canines hang out her mouth, the low growls coming from her mouth are terrifying but the man doesn’t flinch.  
‘There you are.’ She narrows her eyes and there is a silence before she snarls,  
‘You asked for it.’ Then she launches herself at him.

……………

Whereas as before we weren’t getting involved because we didn’t know what was happening, now we don’t get involved because we know that we are horrifically, hilariously, out of our depth. Everyone has heard of Fae warriors, stories from years ago, and about how when they fight, you don’t want to be anywhere near it. The punches and strikes now carry more power, each one making contact sends a resounding sound around the clearing. They’re bodies twist like snakes, neither of them ever loosing their footing no matter how quickly they move and turn. In all honesty, I have no desire to go anywhere near them. I feel the temperature drop.  
‘Let’s make it interesting.’ The man smiles evilly and Celaena narrows her eyes.  
‘This escalated.’  
‘You worried you’re well might run out?’ Her what? Well?  
‘Ha, you know it won’t. You may be bigger, stronger and older than me, but my magic is stronger.’ He opens his arm with a challenging grin.  
‘Well then bring it.’  
‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you.’ Then the world is on fire.

Well not really but there are ice daggers being thrown towards her but each one reaches an impenetrable wall of roaring flame. Each one disappears almost immediately before a new one comes out of no where. I can only assume this man has ice magic, and pretty impressive magic at that. They continue their fighting while throwing the elements at each other.  
‘God’s above.’ I hear Ren say from beside me and we all nod in agreement. This is nothing like we have ever seen and I begin to understand just how powerful the Fae really are and with Celaena leading them, who knows what they could do.

……………..

The fighting suddenly stops. The man is stood a foot from Celaena and they stare at each other, they’re chests rising and falling rapidly as they desperately try to get oxygen. It’s amazing they lasted that long and are still only out of breath.  
‘You can stop loitering in the shadows now.’ I freeze at Celaena’s voice and her head turns directly in our direction.  
‘Well?’ I sigh and step into the clearing. She turns to face me with the man standing behind her. I approach slowly and stand a fair distance away. She is still in Fae form and I really don’t want to get too close. The others slowly come to stand beside me and Celaena looks away from me. I see her gaze go blank as she presumably looks at Chaol, then distaste as she sees Ren and then… her face goes pale, her hands clenching at her sides.  
‘Aedion?’ The man narrows his eyes behind her. I glance at Aedion who is staring at her.  
‘Celaena.’ I say but she doesn’t seem to hear me.  
‘Aelin.’ The man says, his voice is deep and dangerous but she responds immediately. She looks to him and he nods at me. She looks at me.  
‘Yes?’  
‘Long story short. My dad put one of those collars on me. Aedion was due to be executed. Chaol and Ren saved us but we ran. Then we found you.’ Her eyes narrow and her voice is cold when she speaks.  
‘How did you get the collar off?’ I frown.  
‘Why?’  
‘Answer her question.’ The man says and I glare at him but he glares back. I clear my throat and look at her.  
‘I took it off.’ She looks faintly surprised for a second before she looks at the man beside her. They seems to have a silent conversation and she finally nods.  
‘Yeah okay, whatever.’  
‘Aelin, who is he?’ Aedion suddenly asks and Celaena looks uncomfortable.  
‘Um, he, uhh…’ This is the first time I have ever seen her truly lost for words.  
‘I’m Rowan.’ The man says and Aedion narrows his eyes.  
‘How do you know my cousin. Why were you fighting with her? How do you know who she is? Why are you with her? What is your relationship to her?’ I nearly roll my eyes at all of Aedion’s questions but I’m curious too.  
‘None of your business, little prince.’ Aedion bristles and steps forward.  
‘What did you call me? You should show some respect to me and my cousin, she is your queen and you punched her.’  
‘She gives as good as she gets, and I respect your cousin, never doubt that, but you? No. I am old, people like you just bore me, I have no need to respect you. You were born, you will live a typical prince’s life and will die. I will live for an eternity, consider how unimportant you are to me.’ This is all said in an even tone but the threat is clear. I wonder just how old this Fae is.  
‘Why do you protect her? Why do you serve Aelin?’  
‘Why do you?’ The man questions and Aedion looks amused,  
‘We have a bond. Don’t get between it.’ Any emotion vanishes from the man’s face.  
‘Was that a threat.’ He stands up straight and seems to grow in size and there is the smallest flicker of panic on Aedion’s face.  
‘Rowan, enough.’ Celaena’s voice is soft but full of authority and Rowan grudgingly stands back. She turns her gaze to Aedion.  
‘I am glad to see you again cousin, but don’t ever threaten Rowan again.’ Her gaze is icy and Aedion looks down and nods.  
‘One question though. If you are a Fae warrior, why do you not serve Maeve?’ I see a flicker of amusement in Rowan’s eyes and Celaena looks at him before smiling slightly.  
‘He did.’  
‘Maeve just let him walk away?’ I ask, I know a little of the way the courts work and I know there is no way that they let warriors just walk away.  
‘Not exactly.’  
‘God’s above Aelin, don’t tell me you are bonded to him.’ Aedion suddenly says and Celaena looks at him, then me, then Rowan and then back at Aedion.  
‘It was his idea.’ Rowan chuckles slightly.  
‘It was a good idea. Besides we couldn’t piss her off any more. You’d already set her entire town on fire.’ I nearly choke at this.  
‘You did what?’ Celaena shrugs.  
‘Long story. No one died.’ Rowan opens his mouth but she turns to him and slaps a hand over his mouth before hissing something at him. I can only see his eyes as he looks down at her but I see the amusement and… love? … before she pulls away. I glance at Chaol who looks pained and then his expression falls even more. I glance back and see she is playing with her hands. It takes a moment but then I remember she used to wear a ring and I can only imagine that it came from Chaol, but now her hands are bare.  
‘So, what’s the plan?’ Aedion asks, obviously still annoyed and Rowan speaks up.  
‘You can stay with us. We will catch you up with everything you need to know and then we will plan.’

…………….

They takes us into the trees a bit and show us the camp they have set up. There is a fire pit with some logs around it and a shelter with a makeshift bed, slightly raised from the ground. I then realise there is only one bed, certainly big enough for two people. It seems everyone else realises at the same time because Aedion growls.  
‘You share a bed?’ Rowan turns snarling.  
‘It isn’t what you think. Your cousin isn’t like that. Do you not know her at all?’ Aedion must forget his obvious size difference because he steps up to the Fae who smirks down at him.  
‘I know my cousin perfectly well and she doesn’t normally lower her standards to people like you.’ There is an animalistic growl but Rowan’s mouth is shut. It is Celaena who appears from nowhere and sends Aedion staggering backwards with a two handed shove. She turns to Rowan.  
‘Go, cool down. I’ll find you in a bit.’ He looks down at her and seems to communicate with his eyes but she nudges him gently.  
‘Go, Rowan. I’m fine. Trust me.’  
‘I do.’ His voice is soft and he glares at each of us before there is a flash of bright light and a bird hovers in the air. I recognise it as the hawk from earlier. What the actual hell. The hawk disappears into the fading light and Aelin turns around to Aedion.  
‘Cousin or not. I will rip our your lungs if you approach Rowan in the wrong way or accuse me of being… that… again. Now make yourself a bloody shelter unless you want to sleep in the open.’ Her cousin says nothing as he disappear into the undergrowth. Ren doesn’t say anything but follows him. She sighs before turning to Chaol and I. Her gaze seems to linger slightly on Chaol and for a split second I see something kind flicker in her eyes before she shuts it down and her eyes turn cold.  
‘You should probably do the same.’

 

……………..

Rowan is still not back a few hours later and Celaena is asleep on her bed while the rest of us sit around the fire. Aedion and Chaol are talking about how much they dislike Rowan while Ren occasionally chips in. I quickly change the conversation to their fighting skills as soon as possible. Not wanting to provoke Celaena should she hear us talking about Rowan. Suddenly a muffled scream comes from Celaena’s direction. We all spin and she is thrashing slightly while muttering. I hear the words Endovier, slaves and saving. I’m guessing she knows about the massacre then. We all hurry over as she shouts out but stay a few metres away not knowing what to do at the appearance of her sweat covered brow. I can feel heat emanating from her. Aedion reaches out a hand and touches her briefly with his fingertips but hisses and pulls his hand away.  
‘Gods’ above. She is boiling. It was like touching a red hot stove.’  
‘What do we do?’ Chaol asks, worry clear on his brow as it seems to get even hotter in the area and her thrashing becomes wilder. I suddenly hear a rustle behind me and spin to see Rowan sprinting towards us.  
‘Move.’ He commands. We all move out of the way as he walks over to her and then wraps his arms around her. I widen my eyes and Aedion muffles a gasp. Rowan’s eyes register the slightest hint of pain before he covers it. Aedion burnt his hand from touching her briefly but Rowan doesn’t even seem to notice the heat. The temperature suddenly drops as an icy wind whips around us. This soon fades, replaced by heat once again but then the cold returns and this continues. I realise Rowan is trying to counter her magic with his own and I feel my respect for him grow as he never once releases Celaena who is no longer murmuring but starting to shiver. Suddenly the temperature returns to normal and Celaena gasps, sitting up. She looks at each of us, to Aedion holding his burnt finger and then she goes pale and whirls around. Rowan is breathing deeply but now that she has moved I feel my jaw slacken. His arms are raw and red, covered in burns.  
‘Rowan.’ Her voice is soft and he shakes his head.  
‘I’m fine.’  
‘I told you, not to do that again.’  
‘Fire heart, it’s fine.’ Her body slackens and I frown at the name.  
‘What did you call her?’ Aedion asks but there is less hostility and I know Rowan went up in our estimations.  
‘You heard me.’ Rowan turns away after replying and grabs a pot from a bag. He rubs it into his burns while Celaena crouches next to him, murmuring. While we all stare at them, not quite knowing what to do.


End file.
